Courting Vaughn
by Yarho
Summary: Faun aka Chelsea just moved onto Sunny Island and is having a miserable time getting her ranch going. With the help from some friends and a potential love interest, will Faun succeed in becoming a rancher? Or return to the city? VaughnxFaun
1. Farming is hard

**IMPORTANT NOTE READ FIRST!**

_This is technically a Chelsea is Faun in this story. To put it simply, I much prefered the name Faun which I started out my game with. It was a surprising coincidence to find a similarly named character. So instead of keeping the traditional name of the female starter character I wanted to use a different one :3_

_----_

Chapter One

"Faun, Faun wake up!" an aged voice called from the door. I groaned cranking both eyes open with strenuous effort. Sitting up, bleary eyes scanned the room. Save for the bed which I lay on, the wall calendar and a deserted flower pot in the corner, the room was empty. Confusion assaulted my system, and I could feel prickling beneath my skin as my nerves endings flared to awakening. Where was I? This was definitely not my apartment. "It's Taro! Rise and shine," the voice sounded yet again after not receiving a reply.

The confusion I felt instantly flushed out of my system as I recognized the voice belonging to my new neighbour; an aged rancher by the name of Taro. I had asked him the other day to wake me up if I ever overslept. _'That's right, I just moved into this island. This is my home now,_' I thought glancing at the clock, taking note that it was already 8:30 am, over two hours later than the usual 6:00 am ranchers are expected to rise. "If you don't open up in the next minute I'll have to barge in". Hastily, I hopped out of bed tossing the sheets haphazardly to the side carelessly tugging the white night dress off my person pulling on my uniform: a poppy yellow shirt and blue denim overalls. In the next moment I had the door thrown open, "Good morning Taro, I'm so sorry I overslept". The old man's wrinkled face crinkled into a grin (his moustache covered his mouth so it could be possible that he was frowning...). "That's alright Faun. Just don't make it a habit!" he scolded lightly. "Yes sir!" I smiled weakly wondering if I could truly keep the promise. With a nod, the small man shuffled off, bidding me good luck with the 'crops and such'.

And boy was I going to need it. I turned my head towards the field looking out at my meagre plantation. Most of the area was still littered with rocks, branches and various coloured grasses. I had managed to plough a chunk to sew my turnip seeds but they weren't exactly coming along so well. I kneeled beside a turnip examining the leafy growth. "I watered you and everything, but why are you withering?" I asked it noting the leaves were plagued with a brownish tint that wasn't there yesterday. It's been almost 2 weeks since I moved onto the island and things on the ranch haven't been going any better. Not only do I have to support myself but Taro's four person family is also depending on me to ship goods to keep us all alive. The added pressure has had me scavenging around the town daily when I've finished work on the farm to find pieces of grass or flowers to ship. Not surprisingly, the money is only just nearly enough to pay the shipping fees. If that weren't enough to be stressed about, the sun hasn't been shining since I got here, the skies were almost always overcast or shedding fat raindrops on us on the world below. My turnips haven't had enough sunlight to grow. I only came to the island with a mere 500 gold to my name, half of which I spent on those particular turnip seeds hoping that after the crop was cultivated to maturity I'd be able to ship them for profit, or at least have something to eat.

My stomach let out a hollow rumble, I blushed and clutched my middle fruitlessly attempting to muffle the sound. Hunger was part of the reason I haven't been able to wake up early enough to start work on the farm. Not having a kitchen in my run-down shack of a home didn't help matters at all. I was luck enough that Taro's family would invite me for dinner the first few days on the island, but I could only impose so much before my company becomes tiresome.

I sighed in defeat leaning back to fall beside my failing crop looking up at yet another overcast sky, arms splayed at my sides. "Why doesn't anything ever go my way..?" I muttered shutting my eyes for a moment realizing in the way my lids readily glued shut just how tired my body really was. My ears picked up on the sound of shuffling noises not long after making their way over to the field. The slow dragging of feet reminded me of Elliot, Taro's grandson who kindly offered to help me around the farm; surprisingly the boy was even more of a disaster around the farm than I was. He would kick up portions of tilled field to and fro, throw away perfectly shippable coloured grass and nearly trample my only crop. The man meant well but I was relieved when I finally managed to shake him out of helping me just a few days ago setting him up with some work at Mirabelle's. Hearing the steady approach of feet now only indicated that I didn't do a good enough job of it the first time. Not bothering to move from my spot on the ground I called out, "Don't worry Elliot, I'm almost finished with ranch work today. But I hear Julia needs some help around the shop maybe you can help her with some boxes". The footsteps stopped for a brief moment before moving yet again in what I surmised to be the opposite direction. I allowed myself to sigh once more, '_well I better get back to work, there is still a lot to be done today' _I reminded myself pulling up a mental checklist.

"…Howdy" a voice from directly above me snapped my mind from it's planning. My eyes flew open at the greeting to find a tall man in cowboy attire standing in front of me his facial features shaded by the angle at which I was looking at him. "A-a-ah, howdy!" I greeted back rather lamely pushing myself off the ground dusting myself off rather furiously. "I'm so sorry, I thought you were Elliot," I apologized getting a good look at the person before me. Now that the light fully hit his face I realized that it didn't help much. The man had a rather substantial fringe of silvery white hair that hung over half his face effectively covering one eye, his eyes -or eye really from what I could see- were such a pretty warm amethyst colour. Despite having such expressive eyes, the look on his face was nothing short of enigmatic, the way his brow furrowed ever so slightly and the upturned curve of his lips gave the man an effective no-nonsense expression that only made me feel even worst about my slacking off.

"I'm the animal trader for the island, I'm sure you've heard about me from Mirabelle," the man spoke ignoring my apology, his words taking on the tone of a statement rather than a question. I nodded in response, staying tight-lipped suddenly feeling pressured under the person's intimidating gaze. "The name's Vaughn, I'm the one to ask if you need any cattle, chickens, horses, what-have-you" he introduced himself almost as an afterthought. Hearing the man before me introduce himself as Vaughn I felt the corner of my lips twitch into a smile as I let out a small chuckle. The silver haired cowboy glared, with the most curious mixture of confusion and irritation I had ever seen, "What's so funny?".

"Nothing!" I managed in mid-giggle. "It's just, heh, my name's Faun" I smiled extending this information to the man before me as well as an outstretched hand. I watched his facial expression as my introduction sank in. He lowered the brim of his hat just above his eye and smirked amiably into his neckerchief giving my hand a nice firm shake, "Well, I never expected to meet someone with the similar namesake in such a small island". "Likewise, it's going to be really confusing for the neighbours. So where did you move in? East town? West town?" I laughed releasing his hand. The man nodded once appraising me once more, "I don't live on the island. I work out of here two days a week. You'll find me at Mirabelle's Wednesday and Thursday".

"Oh.." I managed feeling a small sting of disappointment, just when I thought I could finally make a friend on the island. Sensing the end of the conversation, the cowboy tipped his hat, "It was nice meeting you… Faun" he said testing out the name on his tongue. "You too… Vaughn" I smiled finding it just as awkward to say aloud a name so similar to my own. With that Vaughn wasted no time, disappearing momentarily down the path towards West town.

"Maybe having a few animals on the farm would be easier than this…" I mused aloud with a wayward glance towards my field. But cattle and poultry cost money to buy. And there's always the fees for upgrading the barns, not to mention the food problem…

Exhaling noisily I rolled up my sleeves I began the day's work. There were plenty of flowers to be picked and shipped after all.

---

A/N: That's chapter one! It's a little boring right now but I'll be sure to have some fluff an' character development in the coming chapters. I'm kind of torn on whether to include Vaughn's perspective. Reviews an' constructive criticism is greatly appreciated 3 Oh! And I kind of want to change the name of this fanfic, name suggestions would be loved.


	2. And so Summer Begins

**IMPORTANT!**

Why is Chelsea under a different name? Read the note in chapter 1 to understand.

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**Chapter Two**

_Dear Diary,_

_I'm glad to say that at last lady luck is smiling down on me! And with good reason, all throughout Spring I have busted my ass off hauling anything I could get my hands on into the shipping bin: colored grass, fish, rocks branches, plain grass and even a few weeds. The weather also turned for the better around mid-season, and I finally turned out not just one, but 8 shipments of turnips. For once not only was Lady Luck smiling upon me but the Harvest Goddess too! and my things were turning for the better. With all the cash cropping I have been doing I was finally able to save up enough to commission Ganon to build the animal barn I had been wanting. He completed it by Sunday morning and in my excitement I bought brushes, clippers, milking contraptions, fodder-- everything I could possibly need to care for an animal. The ranch was set and anxiously awaiting to welcome a new arrival. That is if there wasn`t just that one important detail I had overlooked…_

Summer

I sat down at my table in my house pouring over a satchel of gold, stacking the coins up one by one. "3600... 3780... 3900... 4000... Ah, but with today's shipment I can expect another 300 or sooo..." I muttered chewing on a piece of semi-sweetened chocolate absently as I counted. No matter how many times I re-evaluated the numbers there was no denying it, I was still short 700 gold pieces. Groaning I sprawled my arms over the table, coins clattering nosily as the stacks of coins toppled over hitting the worn tabletop.

"How could I possibly forget to set money aside to buy an actual animal…?" my voice petered pathetically as I pondered on my ridiculous blunder.

During the time money was flowing in like water I admit I was a _little _spend-thrift with the sudden wealth; and buying all those animal care products early probably wasn't such a good idea. Really, what use were they to me now without an animal to use it on? "Ahhh! This is so frustrating!!" I grumbled grabbing at my bandana in frustration. Burying my face in the crook of my arm I secretly wished that I had Ganon build me the chicken coop instead, I'd probably have a dozen chickens by now if I did that.

Summer only just started and it was already sweltering outside. I made a point of finishing all the farm work as early as possible to avoid the high noon glare. There is no way that I was in the mood for collecting grass today. Gazing resolutely at my newly overflowing toolbox I realized what had to be done. Scooping up the tools into my rucksack I less than proudly made my way to town.

---

'_Geez this is harder than I thought…_' I reflected as I tried to focus my eyes on smiling face before me, which was proving difficult with the guilt gushing through my system.

"Faun, good afternoon!" the young woman greeted me.

'_Smile, smile, smile!_' I ordered myself internally my mouth twitching into a joyless half smirk forcing my wandering gaze forward.

"Good afternoon Julia," I tugged anxiously at the edge of my shirt.

"Is it ever hot!" the buxom blonde lamented fanning herself with her hand, "I don't know how you do it Faun, working in this heat everyday".

"Sure is," I agreed to her first comment wiping away the nervous sweat breaking out near my hairline with the back of my hand, "it's not all that bad really if you get up early and work fast enough… S-say where's Mirabelle?".

"Oh Mom`s around back doing some inventory".

I thanked lady luck for the second time today for the fact that Julia was the one behind the counter today, we were both the same age and during the past few days we were getting to be something of friends to one another. Hopefully our friendship would last through what I was about to do.

"Oh I see," I replied with the same forced guilty smile, "Um Julia… Do you by chance, have a return policy..?".

"…A what?" the girl before me murmured her pale blue eyes now becoming aware of my uncharacteristic jittery movements. "

"You know… Those things that let customers return things they bought for a refund, " I gulped forcing the words out .

"I know what a return policy is," Julia frowned slightly, "why do you ask?".

Feeling my face turn redder by the minute I muttered, "Well… I kind of spent a little more than I meant to the other day and bought I few things I didn`t need.. S-s-so I was wondering if maybe…".

I could feel myself sweating madly now. This is an incredibly tacky thing of me to do, using a friendship as an excuse to return something to a store where I plan to use the money to buy something else from the same exact store anyways. Sunny Island was a small place, word would get around about my compulsive shopping and refunds. People would stop doing business with me.

I felt my head swimming with the negative sensationalized possibilities but my mouth kept going under the relentless pressure of Julia`s eyes, ``I-I was wondering..`` I repeated.

The shop bell chimed with the swinging of the shop door pulling Julia`s attention away from me and towards the entrance.

`_YES! I`m saved_` I thought feeling liberated from the girl`s glare. Looking towards my saviour I recognized the black hat and tell-tale silver hair as he turned towards the occupants of the room. "Afternoon," Vaughn mentioned tipping his hat oblivious to the tension floating in the air.

"Good afternoon," Julia and I sputtered in unison (it was really only me who sputtered…).

It was at this time that Mirabelle decided to appear from the storage house staring down a checklist in hand.

"Oh Vaughn! Just the man I wanted to see" the rounded woman chortled looking up from her list moseying over to him.

"Mom, can you come here for a sec?" the other blonde in the room piped up eyeing me for a moment, "we have a problem". My face flushed knowing exactly who the problem was.

Mirabelle raised a finger and turned to her daughter, "I'll be with you in a minute, oh hello Faun" she waved. I waved back half-heartedly, '_Great, now I've been seen_'. I bit down on my lip wanting desperately to escape, but there was no way I could do it inconspicuously with so many people in the room. "I want you to deliver the things listed here to the addresses in this column…" I could hear Mirabelle order handing Vaughn a paper. I couldn't help but watch Vaughn as I awaited my fate. He poured over the piece of paper nodding after he read through every name I noticed that his bangs bobbed slightly when he did so. '_I wonder how his hair feels like…_' I thought having the sudden urge to brush his bangs out of his face.

"Alright, got it," I heard him say snapping me out of my semi-trance. Vaughn went back out the door with his list as Mirabelle turned to Julia and myself.

The woman walked over taking her place behind the counter alongside her daughter, "I swear, this job gets to me some days. The warehouse shipped us two of the same kinds of fodder, I had to spend the whole morning sorting out the whole mess and making sure the storage house wasn't full of mocked up shipments". Mirabelle sighed deeply propping her arms on the counter relaxed now that she had vented out her stresses. "Well then, what was it you wanted to tell me?" she directed her question to Julia.

The younger blonde cocked her head in my direction, "Ask Faunie".

I sucked in a sharp intake of breath, eyeing the doorway expectantly. '_A knight in shining armour coming to sweep me away riding on a trusty stead would be appreciated right about now_' I thought biting my lip feeling two pairs of eyes rest eagerly on me.

Just then, there was a perfect moment where everything went still. All was silent, so quiet that I wouldn't dare breathe when the door of the shop swung inwards with majestic grace. Heads turned towards it like a slow motion movie as the bell pealed with a sort of melodic echo. Clad in cowboy attire, re-entered my saviour. His eyes lifted smoothly gazing at me with orbs of amethyst beneath the brim of his hat.

"Could I borrow Faun for a moment?" he asked his voice soothing to my ears. I found myself thinking, '_An animal trader in cowboy clothes …? I'll take whatever I can get_'.

"Absolutely!" I chimed more enthusiastically than I probably should have. My face flushed in spite of myself as I practically ran to Vaughn skidding to a stop in front of him, "What is it you need?".

He checked something off the list he held before placing a rope into my hand, "I believe she's yours" he stated.

I looked up at him with confusion for a moment before following the rope to it's end. Tied to the end of the makeshift leash was a young calf standing meekly behind the man's black leather boots. The calf peered curiously at me from behind Vaughn, she was the most precious thing I had ever seen.

"A-ah, that can't be right, I didn't buy a calf," I sputtered mystified looking from the animal to Julia, then Mirabelle before trying to hand the rope back to Vaughn.

The silver-haired man in front of me let out something of a chuckle his mouth poised in a slight smirk pushing my hand away before passing me the list, "Well, that's not what it says here". I took the paper from his gloved hands and read it over. My name was there alright: Faun Endel, beside my name it indicated the payment of 5000 gold was made in cash by… Taro.

I stared at the paper for good long moment letting everything sink in. "S-she's mine..?" I murmured looking at the calf then back into the store where two beaming blondes watched as realization unfolded on my face.

"Yes hun, she's yours," Mirabelle repeated.

My eyes threatened to well up with tears my face alighting with delight. I was so surprised, relieved, and happy at the same time that I just wanted to hug someone-- anyone! "She is!" I exclaimed excitedly jumping up enveloping my arms around the neck of a very surprised Vaughn hugging him tightly shouted enthused _thank yous _loud enough to cause some of the townsfolk passing by to turn their heads.

The man didn't seem to know quite what to do with his arms then. They sort of hovered somewhere around my shoulders before he shyly wrapped them gently around my back. I blushed brightly realizing I had probably been holding on for longer than was appropriate. Unlatching my arms from around his neck I noisily stated that I was going to go thank Taro. "What about that thing you wanted to tell us?" Julia called after me. "Nothing, it's been sorted out!" I called back disappearing into the house just next door.

---

I spent a good half hour thanking Taro. Mostly because I was stuttering too excitedly to make proper sentences. It was a struggle not to crush the frail old man in my delirious glee. He simply answered with a hearty laugh saying I deserved a nice surprise for working so diligently on the ranch. To be truthful I couldn't have agreed more. I went back to Mirabelle's to pick up the calf to find Vaughn still standing there holding onto the rope for me.

"Sorry about that," I apologized blushing taking the rope from his grip.

He shrugged muttering something like, "No problem" lowering the brim of his hat to cover his face. "I'll walk you to you home," he offered.

I nodded as I led the animal down the road to my ranch. It walked happily between us as we made our way to my place in silence. It was already starting to get dark out, the first few stars beginning to twinkle into existence. Though we didn't talk I found the silence to be unexpectedly peaceful and comforting. Vaughn was truly a man of few words from what I had observed in the few weeks I had known him. The other two guys on the island were different: Elliot was sweet and (un)helpful, and Denny was someone who could cheer you up no matter how angry or upset you are. I glanced at him for a moment, his face shadowed by his hat leaving his expression a mystery.

'_I guess that's what makes him charming,_' I thought with a small smile. Starting to feel a bit hungry, I absently took out a piece of chocolate and began chewing on it. I turned to find Vaughn staring at me with an expression that read something along the lines of, 'where did she get that chocolate from..?'.

Reaching into my pocket I pulled out a piece and handed it to him, "Do you want some?".

He looked at the offering hesitantly for a moment unsure of whether to take it, "Come on, it's really good" I insisted. Placing the chunk of chocolate in his hand he muttered a, "Thank you.." he said his soothing voice complimenting the silent conversation we had up until now. We ate our chocolate as we walked, my ranch finally coming into view.

"What are you going to name her?" he asked finally after our chocolate was finished.

I looked up at the sky licking the last of the chocolate from my lips, "Hmmm" I pondered stroking my chin in mock concentration. "I think.." I smiled turning to Vaughn, "I'll name her Jemi".

The young one mooed as if approving the choice, the unexpected reply causing us to roar with laughter the sound of our hysterics filling the evening air. Letting out a final chuckle Vaughn lifted his head to look towards me, his eyes alight with amusement as he gave me the most gorgeous smile I had ever seen.

"That's a fine name," he agreed. I turned my head the opposite direction feeling my face flare up.

"U-uh-huh" I managed tugging my bandana lower in attempt to cover my face.

I guess his man-of-few-words persona wasn't the only thing I found charming.

---

A/N: He he I kept changing my mind about this chapter but I'm glad it came out the way I wanted. Faun is starting to show some sorta attraction to Vaughn now, which is a contrast from the last chapter. He he I'll be sure to have a few more mishaps in the next few chapters. For those who may not have understood the dilemma in Mirabelle's shop, I'll explain: returning things to small stores is incredibly rude, because the people who are running the store pay for everything. When you return something you screw up their inventory and junk. Hopefully that's I good enough explanation x____x;;. I'm kind of stuck on what to write for the next few chapters, and I stillll need a new name for this fic, as much as I like the title I don't think it suit's the story as well as I would like. Thanks to those who have reviewed, faved and story alerted this fanfic. It means a lot to me! Please continue to review, it's a great motivation 3


	3. MidSummer Mishaps

Summer

_Dear Diary,_

_I've gotten in over my head now. There was one rainy day during the summer so I thought I would sow a few more seeds since my tomato and corn crops were taking forever to grow. With nearly a full two rows of vegetables growing on my farm I realized just how hard it was going to be to water these plants everyday. I held my own well for the first few days, watering about a third of the plants every three days. But it was hard to keep up with which plants I had watered and which I hadn't, after all I still had Jemi (the calf I had gotten from Taro as a gift) to take care of; she's still young and needs plenty of nurturing. All the work is tiring me out a lot faster than usual, it's hard to keep my eyes from dropping when 7pm rolls around. Natalie scolded me about the lack of shipments the other day too. It was becoming obvious that I needed whatever help I could get, and there was one person I remembered who would unfailingly offer a helping hand._

---

"Um.. I'm here to help," piped an effeminate voice. I was busy watering plants but I turned to see a man with cotton candy coloured hair smiling timidly at me. Bringing my arm to my forehead I used it for the dual purpose of wiping away beads of sweat collecting on my brow and shading the sun from my eyes. He donned a rather beaten pair of navy blue overalls and an equally worn shirt that would've been white if not for the soil-stains and grass stains decorating it. His whole attire seemed rather exaggerated, especially since I hadn't even put him to work yet.

My mouth quirked into a semi-smile, "Hey Elliot". Setting down my watering can I jogged over to him dodging the semi-completed supports I was in the process of making for my tomatoes.

I guarantee that if I could get around it I would never, _ever _have asked the fragile looking man for help. He was a sweet kid, and he never complained about his workload, but the man was an incurable klutz. Judging from his sister Natalie's frequent complaints he is constantly mixing up his shipments, putting crops into material crates, and flowers into food crates. Julia had similar concerns, when he came to help her out he always seemed to be mysteriously dropping things. Unremarkably, it always seemed to happen while she was around, the cause is obvious but I'm not about to give away the man's rather unguarded secret. The last bit of definitive proof to his air-headness is when I asked him to help me in last Spring; needless to say it was a complete disaster, he over watered everything (even the weeds…) and nearly trampled my turnips. Twice. But I was desperate, I needed help, even if it had to come from Hurricane Elliot.

"Thanks for coming out, I don't know how I would get all this work done myself," I declared appreciatively my words and tone belying my actual thoughts.

"It's no problem, really, neighbours have to help each other afterall" he replied modestly with his famous tagline scratching at the back of his neck in an almost embarrassed manner. I gave him a real smile this time, Elliot was a true sweetheart, and that more than made up for his clumsiness.

"Alright, let's get down to work, there's LOTS to be done!" I announced clasping my hands together in commencement. He gave a nod in agreement, "What do you need me to do?"

I slipped a glove from my fingers and fanned myself with the naked hand '_hmmm_'-ing as I looked towards the shabby expanse of my ranch. Noon was approaching so I had about half of the plants watered that needed to be. And I was expecting Gannon to come over and help me build the rest of the supports for my tomatoes within the next hour. There was more than enough weeds that have been left to grow out of control too... But from our previous encounter it was probably a good idea to keep Elliot as _far_ away from my crops as I could manage.

"How are you with animals?" I asked.

"Not bad, I help Julia with the chickens back at her place all the time without any problems, since livestock is her thing and all," he answered truthfully.

I chuckled internally at that, there were many times I remembered Julia complain to me about having 'livestock on the brain' even during her breaks.

"Great! Cows shouldn't be all that different," I decided corralling Pinky over to the animal barn. I pulled out a brush and a wide-set broom from the adjoining shed. "Alright, I have one calf right now but I've been kind of busy so I haven't been able to do all the things I've been meaning to do for her. So first I need you to brush through her coat thoroughly like this… Twice if you can. Change the water in the water tray in the back, but _only_ after you've swept the hay neatly in the corner. I know Jemi is only one calf but she's a messy eater, always dragging food around here and there. It's so cute-- Oh I'm sorry I must be rambling," I laughed apologetically turning back to Elliot handing him the proper equipment, "Did you get all that?".

"Groom Jemi, sweep up, and change the water. Got it," he repeated not missing a beat smiling reassuringly for my benefit as he took the tools from my hand.

Beaming, I patted him firmly on the back before stepping backwards back to the field "I'll check up on you in a bit!".

Work continued on at a peaceful pace, Gannon arrived an hour later -as promised- just after I finished watering the rest of the crops for the day. He brought his toolbox along for us to set-up the supports. We used wood from my lumber shed that I had leftover from when he had built the barn for me. The brawny man made a disapproving sound as he hauled the logs out of the shed.

"What's wrong?" I asked depositing the logs he handed to me onto the area we siphoned off for construction.

"You don't have enough," he grunted indicating the meagre pile I had set down and the lone log he held easily in his large hands, "we need two times this much for the amount of tomatoes you planted".

I waved my hand dismissively, "Oh that's no problem, I have plenty for wood around the ranch I can chop into logs. Just start without me, I'll be back". Taking a few long strides back to my house I recovered my axe from the toolbox by the door.

I returned to the field with the hefty tool. With concerted effort, I lifted the axe over my head and brought it down on a clump of wood cutting it down into a uniform log. My arms shook unsteadily as I heaved trying to regain my energy. Chopping wood was hard work for someone who has such a small stature, such as myself. The only reason I had enough wood for the barn was because I bought most of it from Gannon.

A few agonizing minutes of back-breaking work later, my muscles -or lack of- burned steadily in complaint. '_Almost finished_,' I internally reassured myself dragging the heavy axe towards another piece of wood. Taking in a deep breath I lifted the axe swiftly into the air. '_The faster I get the work done the sooner I can rest my arms_'.

As I raised the axe I caught a glimpse of something coming towards me in my peripheral vision. But I wanted to get this work over quickly so I paid no attention to it-- until it got closer. The cleaving head of the axe descended sharply when a rounded body ambled over to me.

"_**Jemi!**_" I cried in horror and warning, but the creature wobbling precariously on four stubby legs still ran straight for me innocent of the impending danger of the axe in my increasingly exhausted arms.

In mid-swing I struggled to angle the path of the weapon, messily adjusting my grip on the handle. The cleaved head slipping from my grip and slammed loudly in the soil mere centimetres from the stalled calf before me. It stared at me in panic and horror trying to process what happened before letting out a traumatized mewl. The calf stampeded off into the opposite direction spooked out of it's little mind.

"Jemi calm down! I'm so sorry!" I shouted horrified at myself clasping my hands over my mouth. Unsure of what to do, and frankly too shocked to move, I looked on helplessly as the creature stamped haphazardly across the ranch. Hearing the commotion, Gannon looked up and Elliot ran out of the barn rake in hand.

"Elliot! Gannon! Help me catch her!" I pleaded. The two ran over, coordinating their movements messily as we attempted to coral her into a corner. The calf didn't like this and shoved right past us making a beeline for the crops. I gasped in horrible realization to the distinct crunching and squishing noises as the spooked calf plowed through a few of my tomato plants destroying the supports I had already built and the fruit I had laboured so long to grow.

I gasped my hands flying over my mouth for a second time, "My crops!". I turned to Elliot who took an involuntary step back when he saw my expression oh shock and guilt morph into that of fiery unquenchable anger. "YOU!" I growled, my voice dark and venomous as I scowled furiously at the man. "Why is Jemi out of the barn?! She's too young to be let outside!".

Eyes widened behind a pair of now crooked glasses as the man struggled to compose a coherent sentence. "I-I was just trying to rake the hay back into place like you told me too. But she kept nudging me wanting to play so I thought some air would do her some good…" he gulped his voice trailing off to inaudibility as my gaze intensified.

"Have you not learned _**ANYTHING**_ from working at Mirabelle's?! Baby animals are not to leave their barns under _**ANY**_ circumstances because they are unpredictable! And you see what happened? I just about turned the poor thing into a side of beef" I shouted not holding back in the least how upset I was at the situation.

"I-I'm sorry Faun!" he apologized out of fear as I was about ready to pounce him.

"You two!" A gruff voice called out, we turned to Gannon who was huffing and puffing a little ways from us, "If you just stand there Faun all your crops will be crushed. One of you get help!".

Elliot was about to offer when I prodded an accusatory finger in his chest, "You **stay **you've messed up enough today". He was about to mutter another apology when I took off running towards the town. I knew exactly who could help me in this situation.

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Authour's Note: Sorry about the VERY late update guys. This chapter has been finished for a while. But I forgot to post it XD;; I'm working on the next chapter slowly 'cause it's exam time right now. BUT Exams will be over by next week so hopefully I'll be done the next chapter. So yes, no Vaughn in this chapter, sorry! Not much humour in here to be honest with ya either. Originally this and the next chapter weren't split but I decided to do it this way for the sake of an update and for the fact that this chapter is already quite long. Enjoy! Reviews and criticism are loved 3


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